Enter value to resize model. HELP!
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I've bent to the learning curve for a few years now and feel like I have an intermediate knowledge of Sketchup. It's a real pleasure to be able to move fluidly among the options, tools, and plugins to build models.
One small part of Sketchup that continues to bedevil me is the measuring tool. For the life of me I cannot understand how to defeat the "enter value to resize model" option when trying to lay a guide on my model. I've read the tutorials. I've posted here at least once in the past on the topic. I've fiddled with every possible iteration of the ctrl key while using the measure tool. It's just astonishing to me that it still defeats my understanding. 90 percent of the time Sketchup wants to resize my model. Occasionally I get the right key combination to simply lay a guide without being asked to resize my model. What the heck am I missing?
Will someone please provide a "Sketchup; Enter Value to Resize Model for Complete Imbeciles" tutorial for me?
Thanks so much.
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If you do the 'resizing' inside a group or component edit, then only what's inside that context gets resized: but if you do it in the model itself everything will get resized.
Let's say you have something that you want to be 100mm long...
You measure it using the Tapemeasure tool.
Click on one point, then click on the second point that ought to be 100mm away.
The Measurement box [VCB] shows the actual distance.
If it's 100mm you do not need to do anything.
But if it's something else - let's say '88mm' - to 'resize' you must immediately type in the desired size - in this case 100mm +<enter>.
Then the 'resizing' dialog appears and asks if you want to resize...
If you answer 'Yes' then everything gets scaled to match the new size [see above for how to limit the extent of these changes].
A 'No' simply does nothing.If you want to 'resize' an individual object then Scale lets you do this in one of the three axes.
Lets say you have a 'box' [perhaps a group?] that is ~88mm long but you'd like it to be 100mm long, BUT you also want leave its other dimensions unchanged...
Select the 'box'.
Scale Tool.
Start to drag one of the green end-handles and the box's length starts to change.
If you type in a numerical value +<enter> it is rescaled to match that, however 100/88.123456 is not easy!
BUT you can also type in an actual 'dimension' - provided you add a units suffix at the end - so irrespective of the initial size you could type 100mm +<enter> to make that length exactly 100mm while
leaving other dimensions unchanged.Another tip with 'scaling' is useful in making 'mirrored' objects.
Scale + Ctrl to set changes about the center of the object.
Start pulling the green-handle and type in -1 +<enter.
The object is flipped in that axis, into a mirrored version.Resizing with the Tapemeasure affects all geometry in all three axes - e.g. making a box bigger
Scaling affects geometry only in the chosen axis - e.g. making a box longer.
To 'resize' or 'relocate' just a part of an assembly of geometry you need to Select the relevant faces/edges, and then use the Move tool: typing in the required distance or snapping to some other object or temporary guide-line etc - making intermediate rail of a 'window' higher without changing its size. -
If you just want to create guides, don't touch ctrl.
When you select the tape tool it has a small dotted line and a + sign as part of the cursor,--+, this means it will create a guide line. If you hit CTRL this goes away and it can be used to resize. CTRL toggles between the two states.
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